The Maiden and the Martyr
by Lost In A Dark Wood
Summary: It's after the war, Azula is better, Zuko's throwing a party, and Sokka's invited. Very dark Sokkla, for Anariel Tindomerel. Notes and epilogue of sort now up.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Obviously, I do not own the rights to Avatar. This is a fan-based work made for self-flagellation, not profit.

**Summary:** It's after the war, Azula is better, Zuko's throwing a party, and Sokka's invited. Katara has all the luck. Come for the Sokkla, stay for the manipulation and psychological torture.

**Warning**: This is (possibly) my darkest fic yet. Themes are a little more explicit than (though similar to) those of my Harry Potter darkfic, _And All the King's Horses, _but if you've watched _Chinatown_ you should be alright. Also, though the rating may be M and sexual situations _will_ come up, this is **not** really intended to be smut, so if you're looking for that, you've come to the wrong place. But do stay for the sexual manipulation and psychological torture.

**Author's Note: **This is for Anariel Tindomerel, who named an OC in my other Sokkla fic, _Blood, Silk, and Steel_. I promised her a 1000-word oneshot on the subject of Water Tribe Ambassador!Sokka and Azula as her usual fire princess self?" I don't think this is really what she intended or imagined, but… it's what came into my head.

**-Part One-**

Katara has all the luck.

Not that Sokka believes in luck, but, he does believe in solid statistical evidence. And frankly, the statistical evidence points to the fact that Katara has all the luck. How else could one explain why Katara is attending the Earth King's birthday party, while he's stuck in the Fire Nation celebrating Azula's homecoming?

And he's here alone. Suki, his beloved bride-to-be, had _absolutely_ refused to come with him. Mai and Ty Lee are nowhere to be found. He understands; Azula had almost killed him once. He hates her, too.

Zuko is there, of course, but Zuko has his hands full with the courtiers.

The courtiers…

Sokka hates the courtiers. He's found a third of them to be insipid, a third to be vile, and a third to be insipid _and_ vile. In the forty minutes he has been in the ballroom he has had the misfortune of talking to a dozen or so of them: admirals and generals reflecting on "the good old days," haughty courtiers whose sneering glances let him know just _what_ they think of him and his filthy barbarian blood, status-seeking bourgeois, and _one_ old crone who made some very unwelcome advances.

So after forty minutes of mingling with the scum of the earth, Sokka finds his way to an abandoned balcony, from which he can survey the movement of the psychotic people Zuko rules. It's as he leans over the banister that he sees _her:_ the only person in attendance other than Zuko he actually knows and the guest of honor. She looks up and sees him. Their eyes meet for a second, and then she looks away, at nowhere in particular, and that action itself catches his interest. Azula looks to be the only other person having as miserable a time as he is. Then, because as the Southern Water Tribe's ambassador, he's supposed to mingle, he sets off to find her.

It isn't hard. She hasn't moved.

"So, Sokka's your name, right?" she asks him softly, disinterested, as if though she frankly isn't sure. He wonders if she realizes the ironic echo of her words, and then, he remembers that she is Azula and should never be given the benefit of the doubt.

This time, however, he won't let her get him riled up. Not like the last time she asked him his name, so he merely nods. "I'm glad to see that you're better," he says softly, not really meaning or believing it, but at a loss of what else to say.

A light little chortle leaves her throat, sounding foreign in his ears. "And you're supposed to be the smart one." The words are classically Azula, but the tone is so harmless that for the first time, he seriously considers that she might be better after all. "Do you care to dance with me?"

"Pardon?" he asks, dumbfounded, and wonders if he's dreaming.

"Will you dance with me? It's my party, but no one will dance with me. They're all afraid—of me or of His Majesty, I can't tell, but they're too afraid to ask me to dance."

Silently he agrees, reaching his hand out for hers, wondering how, exactly, he got himself into this.

Azula dances well. Better, really, than any other woman than he's ever danced with. All it takes is the slightest shadow of a push, and she moves as he wants her to. It's unbearably strange, dancing with this woman, bending her to his movements. She's supple, almost subservient, and as the music slows she leans her head against his chest. He's about to put his own chin against the top of her hair, when he remembers that he is dancing with _Azula_… Azula who once tried to kill him, and his best friend, and his sister, and his other best friend.

The music slows even more, and then it halts. Azula looks up at him, her golden eyes unreadable. "Thank you for the dance, Ambassador." And then, like that, she takes her leave of him.

Later, when all the courtiers have gone home and Azula is nowhere to be found, Zuko finds him. The poor Fire Lord looks absolutely ragged. Their eyes meet for a second, and Sokka realizes that he looks just as bad as poor Zuko. Suddenly, at the same time, they break down laughing, until they fall to the floor.

Zuko calls for a servant to bring them booze, and Sokka gladly and greedily consumes it.

"I don't know how you do it," he confesses. "These people you rule are completely insane."

Zuko snorts and sprays his drink all over himself. "You know, they really are."

"This one woman, she must have been like, older than King Bumi, she was trying to seduce me."

"And that would be Lady Wan-Tan."

"More like Lady Wanton."

And once more, Zuko has covered himself in his alcohol.

"You really are tired," Sokka observes. "You'd never laugh at my jokes otherwise."

Zuko rubs his eyes. "You have no idea." Then he sighs and adds, "I saw you dancing with my sister, by the way."

"I'm sorry. She caught me off-guard."

"No," Zuko interrupts his apology. "I actually wanted to thank you."

"Don't tell Suki and we're even." It's a joke, because that's what he does; it's what he is: Sokka, meat and sarcasm guy.

Zuko starts to laugh, and then, suddenly, it isn't a laugh any more, but a cry of despair. He shoves his face into his hands and folds in on himself. Sokka's never seen his friend like this. He reaches out, to put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"What's wrong Zuko?"

Zuko looks up. Tears have welled up in his eyes; they are bright with despair. Zuko prepares to speak, his tongue makes a dry clicking noise as it comes unstuck from the roof of his mouth. "It's Azula." His voice breaks. "I don't know what to do."

Sokka doesn't mean to make light of the situation. But what else can he do? He's meat and sarcasm guy, after all. "If she's being trouble, just send her off with her dear old dad. He'll be glad for the company."

Apparently, it's exactly the wrong thing to say. Zuko breaks down crying.

**Author's Notes: **There will be one, or more likely, two more chapters to this. It's not a long story. Reviews would be lovely.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Obviously, I do not own the rights to Avatar. This is a fan-based work made for self-flagellation, not profit.

**Summary:** It's after the war, Azula is better, Zuko's throwing a party, and Sokka's invited. Katara has all the luck. Come for the Sokkla, stay for the manipulation and psychological torture.

**Warning**: This is (possibly) my darkest fic yet. Themes are a little more explicit than (though similar to) those of my Harry Potter darkfic, _And All the King's Horses, _but if you've watched _Chinatown_ you should be alright. Also, though the rating may be M and sexual situations _will_ come up, this is **not** really intended to be smut, so if you're looking for that, you've come to the wrong place. But do stay for the sexual manipulation and psychological torture.

**Author's Note: **Remember, this is rated M. I've decided that the true genre of this fic is Hurt/Comfort/Maim.

**-Part Two-**

Miraculously, Sokka saves himself from putting his foot in his mouth. His first instinct is to remind Zuko of the all-important fact about Azula.

Azula always lies.

But, at least for this instant, that is not what Zuko needs to hear. Zuko, Fire Lord Zuko, is huddled into a sobbing mass, his words gurgling out things Sokka never wanted to hear through tears and wine. When Zuko is done, Sokka doesn't know what to say. The rational part of Sokka wants to ask Zuko if he's _absolutely _sure. The rational part of Sokka knows the thing about Azula that everyone always forgets. But, there's also the part of Sokka that's not a _complete_ idiot, and that part of him knows it would be really bad to remind Zuko of that at this particular moment. So, finally, at odds with himself, he can answer to Zuko's horrifying confession with only a simple question.

"Does your uncle know about this?"

Zuko's golden eyes are brighter than any fire Sokka has ever seen. "No. Do you know what it would do to him? If he knew that the reason Azula, that… what my fa—what that… _that_ _thing_, was doing?"

Sokka wonders, really wonders, what General Iroh would make of it. "There was nothing he could have done. He was away." He takes Zuko by the shoulders and looks at him. "There's nothing you could have done either. You were away."

Again, however, that's exactly the wrong thing to say. Zuko's fist curls and he punches out fire. "But that's exactly it, isn't it? I was away, Uncle was away, Mother was away. We all went away and left her alone with him."

"None of you had a choice." Sometimes, Sokka is so tired of being the reasonable father in the rag-tag bunch of misfits that saved the world.

"If I hadn't spoken out of turn…" Zuko swallows a cry.

"If you hadn't spoke out of turn it would have made you a murderer. You know this Zuko. You needed to leave so you could find your way to us, so you could help Aang put the world together again."

"Do you think I give a damn about the world?" Zuko's voice is low and dangerous. Sokka knows Zuko can be a dangerous man, knows he's not one for controlling his emotions, but he's never seen him quite like this. "She's my _sister_. Can you imagine if we were talking about Katara?" No he can't. He wants to break Zuko's face just for suggesting the possibility that Katara… Zuko continues. "I could have fought him. I _should_ have fought him. I should have killed him."

"You couldn't have killed him then."

"No. I couldn't. I couldn't kill him then, but I can kill him now." Determination has come into his eyes and his voice, and the stupid-but-rational part of Sokka reaches out to keep him from going. It's dangerous. He finds himself not quite dodging a fireball. Suddenly his clothes are on fire, and finally Zuko snaps out of it to put him out.

Sokka is in a world of pain, but through it, he can see that this is good. Zuko will have to get him to a doctor now, and that, at least, will keep him from killing his father.

He's pretty sure that is a good thing.

- - -

He refuses the pain killers because he knows he's no good when he's high and he really needs to think. This is the cost of being the smart one.

The problem is that Zuko is forgetting the simplest fact about Azula:

Azula always lies.

He doesn't want to believe that Ozai did something like that to his daughter. Over this, Sokka is at war over himself. He himself has never really met Ozai. He's only seen him once, at his war crimes trial, and he knows the list of his offenses. He knows Ozai is the man responsible for his mother's death. He knows Ozai is at fault for Yue's ascension; he knows the man sanctioned the murder of the Moon Spirit. He knows he's led extermination campaigns against the benders of the other nations. He knows he's readily sacrificed his own loyal subjects. In his own home and all over the world, Sokka has seen the cruelties of Ozai writ large.

If men can be monsters, and they can, then Ozai is a monster.

Maybe monsters can be good family men. Ozai, he knows, isn't.

These are the things he knows about the former Fire Lord: he gloated at his nephew's death and stole his brother's birthright. He orchestrated his own father's death and turned his dutiful wife into a murderer. He took his children's mother away from them and burned and banished his only son. Ozai has harmed everyone close to him, so why not Azula, who was closest of all?

Because of that: She was closest of all. Unwaveringly faithful, if Azula can love, surely she loved her father, and if Ozai is a man, and surely he is a man, must be a man, then he too must love something, and if Ozai did not love his father or his brother, or his wife, or his son, then Sokka had always thought that he had at least he loved his shining, vicious daughter.

But why? Why must Ozai be a man when he is clearly a monster?

Because Azula is a monster too. She looks docile now, defanged, declawed, but Sokka knows, better than most, that looks can be deceiving and that Azula always lies.

He finds Azula out on a balcony, calmly overlooking the city before dawn. She's leaning against a railing, just staring out into the horizon.

"What are you doing up at this unholy hour?" she asks with the same cool indifference of before.

"I haven't been to sleep yet."

"What a coincidence, Ambassador," she answers with an unsettlingly flat cadence. "Neither have I. Have you had difficulty sleeping?" There's no concern, or _anything_ in her voice.

"I've been talking with your brother."

"The conversation was very interesting then, I'm sure." It's something Azula would say, but it's not how she would say it. He's seen Azula be sarcastic. This one is flat.

"Are you having difficulty sleeping, Princess?"

"Oh, yes."

"Bad dreams?"

Finally she turns to face him. Her face is blank, her eyes impossible to read. Her head tilts at just the _wrong _angle. "The very worst dreams. Do you know, Ambassador, what it's like to have lightning course through your body?"

"No."

"Would you like to find out?"

"Not particularly."

"I didn't think so. Zu—His Majesty knows." She bites her lip. "It was wicked of me to hurt him. It was wrong. It was _bad_." The emphasis on the last word is the first tear away from monotone the whole conversation. It sends an unpleasant shock down his spine to his fingernails. Azula clicks her tongue and looks away. "But it was good, you see, when the doctors did that to _me_."

Azula closes her hand into a fist and brings it to her mouth. When she unfurls her fist there are four bright red crescents at the base of her palm. She shows her hand to Sokka. "This is good. This is how they make people like me better. And look," she reaches out for him with her injured hand, "Now we match. Are you broken too?"

Sokka flinches away before she can close her hand around his bandaged arm and grabs her. He yanks her close—there's no resistance. She's like a rag doll and she stumbles forward.

"You shouldn't make up stories about your father," he growls into her face.

She doesn't move away, but a smile comes into her face. "You know," she says, as if though she's recalling a fond memory, "That's exactly what my nursemaids used to say."

**Author's Notes: **It's been recently pointed out to me that I seem to have two modes: crack and "GRIMDARK"—this is something I had already noticed and I am accepting ideas for normal fics. Something short and nice, preferably without Azula in it.

BTW—Reviews are wonderful.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Obviously, I do not own the rights to Avatar. This is a fan-based work made for self-flagellation, not profit.

**Summary:** It's after the war, Azula is better, Zuko's throwing a party, and Sokka's invited. Katara has all the luck. Come for the Sokkla, stay for the manipulation and psychological torture.

**Warning**: This is (possibly) my darkest fic yet. Themes are a little more explicit than (though similar to) those of my Harry Potter darkfic, _And All the King's Horses, _but if you've watched _Chinatown_ you should be alright. Also, though the rating may be M and sexual situations _will_ come up, this is **not** really intended to be smut, so if you're looking for that, you've come to the wrong place. But do stay for the sexual manipulation and psychological torture.

**Author's Note: **Remember, this is rated M. This chapter brings on the squick hard. You have been warned.

**-Part Three-**

Sokka shivers as he goes up the dark, dingy staircase to the former Fire Lord's cell. He had thought to have seen the Fire Nation's worst prison and realizes now that the Fire Nation has never been quite that civilized.

Though he knows all too well that Zuko did not build this prison, Sokka cannot suppress a shudder at the thought that his friend, the Fire Lord, keeps people here. He doesn't quite know what to make of the fact that Ozai is among the facility's prisoners.

The guard gives him an unpleasant look, but then shrugs as he passes. Sokka can tell he's a man of no convictions, willing to play jailer to one brother and then to the other. Sokka wonders if Zuko can long continue to trust the same people his father trusted, people who so quickly changed sides.

The former Fire Lord is lying in a heap upon the dirt floor, huddled in dirty robes of dark canvas. He opens one eye and then closes it again. A smile creeps up on his face. "You know Zuko, I had always hoped it would be a _girl_ you would bring home to your mother and me, but I can't say I'm surprised."

Zuko's carefully constructed mask falls down and Sokka can see vehement rage and hatred in Zuko's golden eyes. Before he can stop him, Zuko kicks Ozai in the gut, hard enough to send the man rolling on his back.

"You will show your Fire Lord respect."

It takes Ozai a second to catch his breath, but he sits up, straight and regal. He has the demeanor of a king dressed in silks upon his throne and Sokka can see that this man, broken and conquered is not defeated.

"The Fire Lord? I must be going blind. I don't see her. I had heard that the Pretender had her confined to a mad house."

Zuko leans down and hoist his father up against the cage's bars. Sokka realizes that Zuko is about to do something _incredibly_ _stupid_ and reaches out to stop him. For his efforts he is rewarded with an elbow to his burns. The world goes white with pain for a second. Sokka cannot breathe. He is on the floor. Zuko is speaking.

"You _bastard_!" the hot-blooded Fire Lord snarls at his predecessor. "Don't you _dare_ talk about her, don't you _dare_, you _bastard_, not after what you did to her!"

"After what I did to her?" Ozai laughs. The once Fire Lord is thinner now than he was. His skin is pale and papery and his eyes seem more yellow than golden. His black hair is greasy and it falls limply on his face. But his voice… his voice is strong and determined. Malice drips from his voice. "What did I do to her Zuko?"

"Don't play stupid with me, you know perfectly well what you did to her!"

There's a second's pause, and then Ozai says, "Oh, _Zuko_…" His tone is a perverse parody of that of a concerned parent. "Is _that_ what all this is about?"

Ozai's eyes catch light and he smiles, a smile so wicked, Sokka has only ever seen its equal on Azula's lips. It is terrifying, in and of itself, but also because of what it means.

"Are you jealous I got there before you could get a chance?"

Zuko draws his sword.

"Zuko, stop. Let's think this through," Sokka says as he tries to get up. Zuko doesn't even bother to turn to face him.

"Yes, Zuko, _let's think this through_, listen to your boyfriend."

Zuko clenches his teeth and lifts his sword to Ozai's throat. "You're _revolting_!"

"Wouldn't you, if you were stuck in a place like this? Your Uncle did. But you didn't come to talk about my political intentions. You came to talk about your dear little sister. Quite a little fire cracker, that one, don't you think?" Ozai winks and Sokka wants to vomit. "So beautiful. So young and fit and supple, and _tight_. And the things she can do with her _mouth! _Have you discovered that yet? Or have you just thought about it. I know I spent _years_ thinking about it. I realize I've never been much of a father to you, so I'll give you this advice. _Take action_."

"I'm nothing like you!" Zuko spits out.

"Oh yes, nothing like me. Because I _never_ stole my sibling's throne or plotted to kill my father. Nothing like me, because at least I had the decency to have a whore stain her hands with my father's blood instead of doing the deed my—

Ozai never finishes that sentence. Zuko moves quickly. There is a sound Sokka can't even begin to describe. Zuko gasps and stumbles back. The body slumps against the bars and slides down slowly towards the floor. The head rolls off the shoulders and falls on the ground with a splat. For once, there is no malice in that face. There's nothing there any more.

There's a clang as Zuko's sword hits the ground. Through the pain of his burns, Sokka has to rush to catch Zuko's collapsing form. He holds him for a while. Fire Lord Zuko cries in Sokka's arms.

**Author's Notes: **Apparently, I have a thing for having other characters make fun about Zuko's sexuality. Go figure. Anyway, this chapter was originally going to be longer, with more Azula later on.

This is a really short chapter, much shorter than I'm used to writing for BSS or AATKH. It was originally going to have another scene, with Azula, but now I think that would make this chapter too busy. There's enough going on here and this feels like a good place to end this chapter. One of the things that's been fascinating me lately is the irreversibility of death (fictional characters and gods aside). There comes a point where the machine just can't take it any more and breaks down. And once the machine is sufficiently broken, there's just no restarting it. I think this would make for an interesting science fiction story... It has probably already been written. Probably by Asimov... I don't know what that has to do with anything, except, I think this is the first time I've ever killed Ozai... I've violently killed Aang, and Azula, and Zuko, and Katara, and Bosco, and the Earth King, but never Ozai... It's kinda weird.

Oh, and reviews. Reviews are appreciated. This is the first chapter without any Azula in it, and I want to know what you guys make of it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Obviously, I do not own the rights to Avatar. This is a fan-based work made for self-flagellation, not profit.

**Summary:** It's after the war, Azula is better, Zuko's throwing a party, and Sokka's invited. Katara has all the luck. Come for the Sokkla, stay for the manipulation and psychological torture.

**Warning**: This is (possibly) my darkest fic yet. Themes are a little more explicit than (though similar to) those of my Harry Potter darkfic, _And All the King's Horses, _but if you've watched _Chinatown_ you should be alright. Also, though the rating may be M and sexual situations _will_ come up, this is **not** really intended to be smut, so if you're looking for that, you've come to the wrong place. But do stay for the sexual manipulation and psychological torture.

**Author's Note: **Remember, this is rated M.

**-Part Four-**

There isn't enough booze in all the world. Still, Zuko's cellar is impressive. Zuko is well on his way to drinking half of it, and Sokka the other half.

They're drunk. Sokka knows it is the only sane reaction.

Suddenly Zuko looks up. Sokka doesn't like the look in his eyes. It's not glazed over. There is a thought in those eyes.

"Someone is going to have to tell her."

Sokka understands. "I will."

- - -

As he stands in front of Azula's door, Sokka wonders when and how he got so generous.

This is insane. Azula is insane. Zuko is insane. The whole fucking world is insane and it's threatening to drag him down into the same mire. He wonders if it hasn't already. Today he saw his best friend behead his own father—stain his hands with the blood that gave him life.

He remembers urging Aang to kill Ozai. What had he been thinking then? How could he have ever endorsed or entertained the thought of murder? Is there any crime worse than to put out a life?

He's seen death before, murder before. He never saw his mother's corpse. Is that why he's never thought much of murder? He aw Jet struck down and he knows Jet did not survive, but there was no blood and the last time he saw Jet, Jet was still alive and whole.

And then, there was—_is_—Yue.

Yue, whose life had been borrowed and taken back. Yue, who had been his first love and whom he still loves more than he will ever be able to love anyone else. Zhao did not kill _her. _Zhao killed the Moon Spirit, and Yue had been forced to give back the life she had been lent. Sokka had lost her. When he thought about it, Sokka didn't know how he could live with the knowledge that he would never again feel her lips against his. And yet, that was the last he had of her: the ghost of her taste on his lips. There had been no body to lay to rest—just a beautiful apparition, which had disappeared into the aether.

Before today, before Zuko stained his blade with blood, death had never been physical to Sokka.

It is insane.

And now he has taken it upon himself to explain to Azula that he has witnessed death and bloody murder for her sake.

This is insane.

He knocks.

He is insane.

There is no answer. He knocks again. Then he knocks harder and harder until he is pounding on the door, and still there is no answer. He doubts Azula is this soundly asleep. He hopes that she is dead and he won't have to look at her or talk to her. He opens the door and steps into Azula's darkened bedroom. The bed sheets are a mess and the covers have been thrown onto the floor. Azula is nowhere to be seen.

He pushes the screen door open and is surprised to find Azula moving through the motions of firebending in the rain. This is the first news Sokka has of the fact that it is raining and the first time he sees that Azula's deadly art can be beautiful. There is no smoke, no fire, no steam, just fluid movements of power bound by impotence or temperance. She looks like a spirit dancing in the rain.

Suddenly, without warning, she thrusts her fingers into the night and lightning floods the sky. This, he knows, is something that Zuko cannot do. Her stop is sudden, but fluid; the end is integrated into the rest of the motion.

She doesn't turn to face him, but Sokka's assumption that his entrance has gone unnoticed is proven wrong when she starts to address him.

"Ambassador, is that you?"

"Yes, Princess."

"Time was when a gentleman would knock before entering a lady's bedchambers. Or do they not have doors in the Water Tribes?" Once again there is a baffling disconnect between her words and her tone. Her voice is so thoroughly soaked with ennui that she makes Mai look as giddy as Ty Lee. For a second, he wonders if the question is earnest; maybe she simply doesn't know that there are doors and locks the world over. He pushes the thought to the bottom of his mind.

"I did knock. When I received no answer I became fearful that something might have happened to you."

"And so you came to my rescue. How gallant." She turns to face him. Her hair and clothes are soaked through and her pale skin glistens in the moonlight. Wet, the red silk of her robe clings to her body. It is loosely tied around her waist The neckline plummets to her belly and the split of her breasts is fully exposed.

Drenched, the red silk looks like blood.

Ozai's blood flows through this girl's veins. Now it falls to him to tell her that it stains her brother's hands.

"Would you come in, out of the rain?"

"Oh, but I like the rain. And I'm already wet. I'm so wet I haven't been dry for months. Do you mind the rain, Ambassador? It is your sister's element. Don't you revel in your sister's wetness?"

His heart is up in his throat. It makes it hard for him to choke out his reply: "What?"

"Aren't you proud of your sister's waterbending skills? She's quite talented, you know. She defeated me, and that's no easy feat. I killed the Avatar once. Legend has it that it was your sister who brought him back from the dead. My father and I owe your sister quite a lot" There is no boast, no judgment, no passion in her voice. Azula does not seem to be talking about a close personal drama. Sokka cannot imagine talking so passively about Kyoshi's argument with her Earth King. He wonders is she shouldn't still be buried in her madhouse, or if it wouldn't have been better for Azula to perish by fire. Her passivity chills his blood more than Ozai's obscene jubilance, and only slightly less than Zuko's firey rage.

"I have news for you."

"I assume it is bad news then. What is wrong?"

"Please, come inside."

"Is it a secret of state? What do you have to tell me that the moon cannot hear?"

Does she know? It is true that this is not something for Yue to hear. It is too terrible. "It concerns your father."

Azula's face falls from its slack mask. "What's wrong? Is he sick." She seems to be genuinely worried. It is the first real emotion he has seen in her since he came back to the Fire Nation.

"Azula…" he says the name with as much tenderness as he can muster for one of his most hated enemies. "Please, come inside."

"No!" she spits out. "Tell me what's wrong with my dad!"

"Azula," he says again slowly.

"No!" she screams, realization hitting her. "No! No! NO! It isn't true. You're lying. You bastard, you're lying!"

"I'm sorry."

"When did it happen?"

"Earlier today."

Azula lets out a terrible screech. Pulling her hand to her lips, she begins to sob and drops to the floor. Sokka stands paralyzed. Once he had thought that Azula could not ever become more terrifying, but seeing her break down like this freezes his blood. He cannot reconcile the image of the confident woman sitting upon the throne of Ba Sing Se with the wretch before him.

And then, because he cannot deal with it, he lets go of the image of Azula the viper, and all that is left is a girl crying on the wet floor because her daddy is dead. He knows what loss is, and once upon a time he comforted another crying girl who had suffered a terrible loss.

Sokka is many things. He is a friend, a warrior, a swordsman, a strategist, a skeptic, a tinkerer, a man of science, a lover, a hunter, a meat and sarcasm guy, but most of all, he is a big brother, and when he sees a pretty girl crying inconsolably, that instinct kicks in hard.

In a flash the paralysis is gone and he is crouching next to her. She's sobbing wildly now and tears are streaming down her cheeks. She buries her face against his chest and sobs into him. If he was not already soaked, she would be drenching him. She clings to him, and now there is not even the face of his enemy, but the form of a woman in despair.

He has to get them out of the rain. It is cold and wet, and it isn't helping any. He hooks an arm under the crook of her knees and holds her tightly against him. He gets up with her in his arms; he's amazed at how heavy she is—she's all tightly packed muscle. There's softness to her—he's never felt anything like it; she's hard all over.

He sets her down softly on her bed and peels himself away from her. There's the lightest hint of resistance from her arms, as if she can't stand to let him go but doesn't dare to ask him to stay. With her arms free, she plunges her face into her hands and renews the intensity of her sobbing.

He takes her blankets off the floor and wraps them around her. He hold her tightly and rubs her back.

Finally, her sobs die down. She uncovers her face and turns to look at him. Her eyes ar red and puffy and bright with tears. HE has never seen her eyes like that. They are alien, terrifying and electrifying. "Why did no one tell me he was ill?"

Sokka hates himself for not being a liar. He tries to get the white lie out, the untruth that ill cleanse Zuko's hands of his father's blood and end the madness. But no words will come to hide the monstrous deed. So finally, he offers up the truth: "He wasn't."

Confusion fogs her golden eyes. "But then, how did he die? Did one of his jailers… What is Zuko going to do about it?"

That's it. For a second his heart is steel and his voice and eyes are ice. "His Majesty has full knowledge of the situation. He has dealt with the parties involved as he has seen fit."

Her neck snaps up. "What does that mean?" There is urgency in her voice, as if though she can almost grasp the meaning but must make sure.

"It means that the Fire Lord has passed judgement. It is his right. There will be no possibility of appeal."

"What does that mean?"

He looks away.

"What does that mean?!"

He is silent.

"Zuko didn't!" she screams out in realization of what Sokka's silence means. "He didn't. He couldn't. He was still his father! He was _my_ father!

"Why? _Why? WHY?_" She shrieks and sobs. "Why? Tell me why! Tell me why!"

He can do nothing but look at her with sadness in his eyes.

She recoils. Horror is on her face.

"No… No… No! _NO!_

"It was my fault. _My fault_. I shouldn't have said anything."

He knows what he should say. He should tell her that it's not her fault. But Sokka is not a liar. Not when it counts. So instead he takes her in his arms. He strokes her hair and kisses her forehead. She holds him. Her hard body presses against him, rocked by violent sobs. He kisses her again and again and again. Their eyes meet. Hers are perfect pools of despair.

Sokka is lost. There is nothing in the world but the two of them. He is drunk and she is hurt, and, and, and…

This is insane.  
She is insane.  
He is insane.

He is lost.

- - -

When it's over, Azula has blood on her hands and between her legs.

Her sobs have turned to laughter.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **This chapter was hard to write. I'm not comfortable with sex scenes and this may be too subtle. This is such a delicate situation, however, that I didn't know how else to deal with it. I kept making myself really sick while writing this chapter. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. There's only one more chapter to go, and if you guys _really _want it, I may put up an epilogue chapter. As always, reviews would be lovely. Does this work? This is the climax (no pun intended) of this short story, so please tell me if it works, or if it doesn't. If it doesn't, then I have a problem.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Obviously, I do not own the rights to Avatar. This is a fan-based work made for self-flagellation, not profit.

**Summary:** It's after the war, Azula is better, Zuko's throwing a party, and Sokka's invited. Katara has all the luck. Come for the Sokkla, stay for the manipulation and psychological torture.

**Warning**: This is (possibly) my darkest fic yet. Themes are a little more explicit than (though similar to) those of my Harry Potter darkfic, _And All the King's Horses, _but if you've watched _Chinatown_ you should be alright. Also, though the rating may be M and sexual situations _will_ come up, this is **not** really intended to be smut, so if you're looking for that, you've come to the wrong place. But do stay for the sexual manipulation and psychological torture.

**Author's Note: **Azula is deranged.

* * *

**-Part Five-**

Azula is laughing and Sokka cannot breathe. Has he broken her again, or worse… No. The thought is too terrible to contemplate, and yet…

Oh Spirits!  
What if…?

There isn't any saliva in his mouth. He can't even think to form words. He cannot breathe.

He cannot think.  
He cannot breathe.

And Azula… Azula has all the breath in the world.

Finally Sokka finds his voice. All he can do is ask: "What's so funny?"

She looks at him, as if though he were an insignificant detail she had forgotten. Then she smiles. "What a petty little thing."

"Pardon?"

"That petty little thing is what all this fuzz is about? What a silly little thing to kill a man over…"

"What?"

"And I should know…" she flashes her white teeth at him.

"What?" It's all he can say.

"_Pardon? What? What?_" She throws his words back at him and rolls her eyes. "And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. Of course, with my brother for competition, I guess it's not that hard." She crosses her legs; she's naked, dirty, and disheveled, and yet she looks no less confident, no less triumphant than she did sitting upon the throne of Ba Sing Se.

"Tell me, So-kka," she says, splitting his name into two distinct syllables in a way that implies _exactly_ what she thinks of him, "Do I really have to tell you what has happened?" When he doesn't answer, she continues: "I've won. You and Zuzu and your whore sister may have won the battle, but I have won the war." She giggles. "Or I will, anyway, even if it takes another hundred years."

Her words barely register. He can't yet think through the future; he's still reeling from the sudden revelation.

"You lied!" he accuses, like a child. He's full of horror and indignation; his voice is betrayed, hurt and bewildered. Very faintly, he is aware of the fact that he is ridiculous.

"Like I've never done that before."

She leans forward: "I thought you were onto me. I thought you didn't believe me. What changed your mind?"

"But your father—

She claps and squeals. "Oh, Dad! He was always so good at catching on to my lies and playing along.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

Sokka doesn't answer.

"When I was a little girl, I told Zuzu a lie. I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to scare him. He's such a sissy. But trust Zuzu not to know how to take a joke… He was scared witless—though I guess in Zuzu's case that's redundant—anyway, _mommy-dearest_ interrupted, and what was meant to be a little innocent prank turned into murder most foul.

"Dad told me the whole story later. Mom wanted to know if it was true. He said yes. And when she told him he couldn't, he answered that he had to. _That's_ how the sun set on the reign of Azulon."

She smiles. "You know, it hadn't occurred to me, but, with Dad gone, how ever will Zuzu find Mom?"

He snaps out of it. His blood had been frozen; now it boils. He lunges for her and grabs her throat. She doesn't move. She doesn't even stop smiling as his hands wrap themselves around her neck.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asks. Then she cackles. "Go ahead. What will you tell Zuzu? He may be a traitor, an idiot, and a coward, but he's an old fashioned royalist at heart. What do you think the Fire Lord would do if he found his poor, broken, _abused_ sister's corpse, mangled and used by the ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe?"

Zuko's voice runs in his head, low and dangerous: "Do you think I give a damn about the world?"

Sokka knows exactly what Zuko would do. He wouldn't ask questions. He wouldn't listen to answers. He would act. Sokka has seen first hand the results of Zuko's impatience.

To kill Azula means to restart the war. On this front, Azula has beaten him.

He unfurls his fingers and folds in upon himself. Part of him can see every move left on the board and the rest of him is lost in absolute darkness.

He buries his face in his hands and digs his fingers into his wet hair. When he can finally bear to look at Azula he asks, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why lie?" He's about to throw out a thought, answer his own question when Azula throws herself at him. She catches him off-guard and pushes him onto her bed. Before he can protest, she's straddling him, holding him down; her tongue is in his mouth and he wants to vomit.

When she breaks that monstrous thing, that sick perversion of a kiss, she smiles down at him, "Do you think I've ever needed a _reason_ to lie?" Her grin is vicious. She lowers herself over him; her lips hover dangerously over his ear, and she whispers, "But I'll show you, why I lied."

She moves like lightning and forces the red silk bed sheets, wet with rain and sweat, into his mouth. She does something he can't quite understand and presses her fingers to his temples.

* * *

There is nothing in the world but pain.

* * *

He doesn't feel Azula get off him. He is limp and useless. Every inch of him is wracked by pain.

When Azula lays to his side, he's only vaguely aware of the fact that she wraps her arms around him.

"It's ok," she whispers in a tone that is almost reassuring. "The pain will only last a little while this time. I haven't done any lasting damage." She kisses his jaw. "My father never fucked me, but the doctors swallowed it up. _Poor Princess Azula_, _no wonder she's so disturbed_. It was enough to get me out of shock treatment and enough to get me out of that so-called asylum; it'll be enough to get me out of this nightmare I'm living."

The first thing he manages to do is swallow. When he can finally breathe deeply without seeing stars, he opens his mouth to talk. He doesn't say anything. For the first time, he's afraid for his life. He can barely breathe; he can't move. He is entirely at Azula's mercy, and he's not sure that she actually has any.

He thinks through his words, and finally settles on "Your father was willing to die for you."

She laughs into his throat. "Is that what you think that was? My father was willing to die because his life was _over_. He didn't give a damn about me.

"I gave him his crown. I gave him Ba Sing Se. And I meant _nothing_ to him!

"Do you know what it's like, to realize in an instant that there's not a single person on this green earth who cares whether you live or die?

"You know, a girl tries and she tries. I gave Ty Lee the independence and individuality she desperately craved. And she betrayed me for Mai. I gave Mai Zuko's heart on a silver platter, and how did she repay me? By betraying me for my idiot brother. And Zuko, don't get me started on Zuko.

"Sure, I lied and played with him, but when push came to shove, I looked after him. _I _brought him home. _I _restored his birthright. _I _gave him glory. _I _gave him our father's respect. _I _helped him work out his issues on Ember Island. _And he turned his back on me!_ How glad he was to claim credit for the murder of the Avatar, and now he's just as glad to be the Avatar's lapdog.

"But as bad as all of them were, no one was as bad as my father. When he was everything to me, I was nothing to him. So I'm glad the Phoenix King is dead. Let him rot!

"But you, Sokka… Shall I let _you_ rot?

"I could drop dead tomorrow, and the rest of the world would rejoice. But you? People would miss you, wouldn't they? Your sister, your father, your girlfriend, the Avatar, that little blind girl, my brother… why, if the legends are true, the moon herself would weep for you.

"Who on this earth wouldn't mourn the passing of Sokka, the great hero? The man who planned the invasion of the Fire Nation and destroyed my father's armada…

"For that alone I ought to kill you."

"Please don't." It's all he can manage to say.

Apparently, she finds it amusing. She laughs. "Oh, but can't you see it now? You're a great strategist, after all. It'd be so easy for me. All it would take would be a single blast of blue fire. I could set this room on fire and leave you here. It would look like an accident. Poor _mad_ Azula. So upset by the revelation of her father's death. Or maybe worse. You do have quite the reputation as a lady killer, don't you? Poor Princess Azula, mad and vulnerable, defeated, broken, and taken advantage of by that _filthy_ savage: can you blame her for trying to set the world on fire?

"No one in the Fire Nation would blame me.

"But your sister, and your father, they would blame me. They _know_ you. You're not like _that_. You'd _never_ touch a vile creature like me. And they _know_ me. I'm not a pathetic old man following orders. I'm a _vicious monster_, just ask my mommy if Zuzu ever find her. They'd ask for my head, wouldn't they? Blood for blood. But how could Zuzu give over his poor little sister to people clamoring for revenge? The Avatar might even agree with Zuzu. Maybe he'd concede to take away my bending, but never take away my life. _All life is precious_. Isn't that what his monks believed? Great Grandpa Sozin had no such illusions.

"But would that be enough? Would Azula defanged sate the bloodlust of the Southern Water Tribe? And what would Arnook and Kuei say?"

She pats his chest. Her flat palm burns against his chest. "But don't worry. I'm not going to kill you, not yet anyway. I'm going to go down and tell Zuzu the truth. That he killed his father for no reason. I might even tell him that you're dead. He's such a silly puppet. I'll have him disemboweling himself before sunrise. Mai will come home to find him dead and I'll be crowned Fire Lord. _Then_ I'll have you publicly executed as an enemy of the Fire Nation.

"Before news gets out, I'll launch an attack on the Southern Water Tribe and end it."

"Why?" He understands why. Because Azula is a deranged bitch. But she's in a talkative mood, and if he can stall her until he can move, then maybe he might stand half a chance of averting the end of the world.

"Because."

"But, why?" Every word is a battle. "War's over. Why start?"

She doesn't answer. He struggles to continue. "What gain?"

She sits up straight and looks away from him.

"Still alone."

"All the people of the Fire Nation will cheer my name."

"Cheer Zuko. Cheered Ozai."

"They are a fickle flock," she says sadly, but then she turns to him and the smile on her face tells him she doesn't care. "Better to reign over unloyal subjects than serve Zuko. You have no idea, Sokka. I want to end this hell I'm living."

"Leave."

"What?"

He struggles to repeat himself, but she interrupts. "Leave? If I could leave this wretched place and never return, don't you think I would? When I'm Fire Lord I'll have this city burnt to the ground and I'll move the capital somewhere else. But so long as Zuzu lives, I have the charming choice between living under his thumb or in that madhouse."

"Third."

"Third? Is there a third choice? Don't toy with me. There is no third choice. I've spent months thinking about this."

"Yes." He breathes in and begs the spirits for the strength to talk. "There's a third choice. Leave."

She frowns and puts her hand to his brow. "Have I gone and fried your brains? I _can't _leave. I'm a prisoner in the palace where I was born."

"Let me talk to Zuko."

"Why? So you can tell him I'm insane?"

"No. I'll tell him you're unhappy. That this place isn't letting you get better. He'll let you come with me to the South Pole."

"Leave with you? Be a slave in the South Pole?"

"You'll be free of your brother."

"I'll have to see your sister's horrid face every day for the rest of my life."

"No, she's with Aang looking for Air Nomads."

Katara will be away, and safe.

"You're arguing I should live the rest of my days in exile, when I have the option of reigning the world?"

"You're tired, like everyone else." He doesn't believe the argument he's making, but he hopes Azula will buy his lie. "Sozin killed Roku. Iroh lost his son. Ozai stole the throne. Your mother disappeared. Your father turned his back on his children. Zuko killed his father. For the last hundred years your family has known nothing but bloodshed. Is that the life you want? Do you want to claw your way to power and fight to keep it until you're withered and old and one of your children decided to get rid of you?"

She presses her lips and stays that way. Finally, she concedes defeat. "No."

"So come with me."

"Very well. But betray me Sokka, and there will be hell to pay."

Sokka fears there will be hell to pay anyway. He doesn't yet know how he'll convince Zuko or what he'll say to Katara and Suki and all the rest. He's terrified of what his father will do when he arrives back home with Azula in tow. But this is the only way he can think of to protect Zuko and stave off war.

_Please, _he prays to Yue, _let this be enough._

He fears it will be too much.

Azula pulls the bed covers over him and slides in next to him, holding him too tightly for comfort.

* * *

It is morning before he can move again. Azula shoves him awake and demands that he get up and get dressed. Every movement causes his muscles to scream out in pain. He clenches his jaw and goes off to find Zuko. Azula follows him in the shadows.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Blerg. Does this suck?


	6. Chapter 6

My dear readers,

I recognize that there is or was a policy against posting Author's Notes as chapters. I hope you won't have the bad blood to report me, and just in case, I've decided to make this something of an Epilogue.

What I should have done from the beginning was to let last chapter be the last chapter. There isn't more I want to do with this chapter—there wasn't then and there isn't now. I had wanted a scene of Sokka looking over the horizon, shivering as Azula put her hand on his shoulder. But… I just couldn't bring myself to do it. The point of the story was the revelation of Azula's master scheme. After that, there wasn't much more. So, officially, "canonically" that's all you get: Azula triumphant and mad, Sokka defeated and trapped. The Maiden and the Martyr.

I'm sure many of you caught it in the title: Maiden and Martyr. Azula is the Maiden, and Sokka the Martyr, but of course, with the twist that the Maiden is wicked. It's possibly the least clever title ever, because I just meant both words quite literally. But hey, it had alliteration going for it, at least. Of course, the more interesting twist, if I want to go lit crit on my own work, is that it's Azula's virginity that constitutes the betrayal. (Though, I should mention that if this story had gone on further, Suki and Azula would have been in a confrontation at the Southern Pole where Azula would have boasted that she won Sokka by being able to do "amazing things" with her mouth, an ironic echo of Ozai's words; of course, Azula can do amazing things with her mouth, it was her mouth, not her firebending prowess that brought down the walls of Ba Sing Se. But, the intent of the line would have been to establish the idea that maybe Azula wasn't lying about the abuse. Azula is definitely lying? But about what? I don't know, and wouldn't tell.)

Anyway, I'm sure some people would like some more plot, so here is what I had envisioned would happen afterwards. I wouldn't call this canon for the fic, but if anyone wants to write a sequel fic or plunder any of these ideas, go for it.

It stands to reason that Azula's intention, all along, at least from the moment she saw Sokka in the dance hall, was to escape the Fire Nation and latch on to him. Why? Because I think she's tired, hurt, and afraid. I don't think Azula could imagine any fate worse than having her bending taken away; she's already lost her friends, her family, her nation, her sanity, the only thing of Azula that's left is her brilliant firebending, and Aang can take that away. I love the way Rufftoon and others have portrayed Azula as a pretender, trying to get her empire back and rekindle the war, but, partially because of my own incredible fear of the mental health profession, this Azula is actually afraid. But as Azula knows, there's more than one way to skin a cat-dog (and yes, that was a reference to the fact that Azula in my book is supposed to be a psychopath who tortured animals as a child), and if she can't defeat the Avatar on a one-on-one battle and can't fight her brother without fighting Aang, then she'll take the long route. Azula can't ally herself with Zuko. She can't ensorcel Aang, because Aang is so desperately in love with Katara. But Sokka, I think she saw a weakness in Sokka, or at least, a quality she considered weakness, and leapt for the jugular. Sokka is considered a hero, he has contacts all of the most important people in the world: Aang, Katara, Zuko, the Earth King, Hakoda, Arnook, not only that, but he's likely first in line to be the next Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, and though Azula doesn't know it, he'll be a member of the White Lotus Society. For a lot of these people, having Sokka vouch for Azula will go a very, very long way towards redeeming her in their eyes, and well, if you have Zuko who says his sister is better, and Sokka who apparently trusts her and possibly loves her, maybe she's actually a much better person than they thought.

Part of the deal is that Sokka can't tell anyone exactly what happened: Azula wouldn't like it, and besides, it makes him look really, really bad. So, ok, what happens next?

Sokka talks Zuko into letting him take Azula with him to the Southern Water Tribe. Sokka lies through his teeth, apparently, Azula's skills in that department are contagious, and Sokka convinces Zuko. Azula plays the docile fawn. Back in the Southern Water Tribe, Suki is waiting for Sokka. She's planning on surprising him, and is shocked when it turns out he's bringing Azula with him. Of course, Azula is up to being deceitful and manipulative: she's got Sokka in her claws and isn't going to let go. A suspicious Suki confronts her, why did Sokka bring Azula with him?

"Oh, Suki, are you jealous? The answer is very simple: I can do _amazing _things with my mouth."

The implication is clear, but Suki is too smart for Azula. She knows that thing that everyone always forgets about Azula.

"You always lie."

"Well, if you don't believe me, you could just go ahead and ask Sokka. I imagine no guy has ever lied to his girlfriend in the whole history of the Universe. Of course, you could always check his back."

Suki decides to ignore Azula, but the Princess's words rattle in her skull until she can stand it no more. She decides to ask Sokka. He gives her the same cryptic answer he gave Hakoda, "I realized that the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation wouldn't be able to continue to have a good relationship if I didn't get her away from the Fire Nation Palace and this was the only place I could bring her."

Suki wants more of an answer, but Sokka refuses to give her details. Finally, she tries an alternate tactic and seduce the answer out of her. But Sokka, for once, doesn't seem interested in sex, which makes her suspicious. "Playing hard to get, are we?" she pulls out a knife and tears Sokka's shirt off: low and behold Sokka has scratchmarks all down his back.

"I can't believe that bitch was telling the truth, for once in her life!"

"Suki, please, I can explain."

"What, that you slept with her and then brought her home as a souvenir?"

"Suki—

"Did you sleep with her?"

"Suki… it, it didn't mean anything."

"I cannot believe you! You slept with her, and then you weren't going to tell me. You were going to keep going on like nothing had changed. Do you know what she did to me? Of course you know, because I _told_ you. And you know what she tried to do to your sister and Zuko; she almost killed Aang! And you slept with her! And you didn't tell me!"

Obviously, they break up. In a fit of rage, Sokka confronts Azula: violence and hatesex ensue. Of course, each feels even worse afterwards. As an unfortunate result however, Azula get pregnant. Hakoda confronts his son, outraged at how indecently Sokka has been behaving (I've always imagined the Avatar world, and the Water Tribes in particular, to be extremely sexually conservative). Hakoda demands an explanation, and when Sokka can't give him a good one, Hakoda berates him, "I never thought I would be so disappointed in you." He gives Sokka an ultimatum: do the honest thing and marry the Fire Lord's sister, or leave the Southern Water Tribe. His father's disgust is a huge blow for Sokka—he thinks he could probably leave the Southern Water Tribe—he still has allies and he feels like Aang at least would understand, but there's the serious problem about Azula and Zuko: if Sokka's not in the Southern Water Tribe, Azula can't be there either. Azula won't stand for going back, and Zuko's unlikely to take it well that Sokka knocked his sister up and then ran away (remember, all of this is in the context of Zuko thinking Azula was sexually abused by Ozai). So, Sokka proposes to Azula, who obviously accepts, but not without berating him first. "Hmmm… let's see, your father gave you the choice between exile and completing a dangerous and odious task? Why does this sound so familiar?"

Katara doesn't get what's going on, and she keeps trying to figure out why Sokka is marrying Azula, since she thinks this is probably the worse mistake of his life.

"Isn't it obvious Katara? I'm madly in love with her."

Sokka's getting very good at lying.

They get married, Azula gives birth to a son. Azula is obsessed with the idea of making people love her (in this context, actually making people who will love her). However, for Sokka the child evidence of his failure and the fact that he's now stuck with Azula. Sokka pretty much hates Azula and the kid, but since he's married to Azula, he now technically has more control over her than her brother (again, old-style conservative Avatar world is assumed) and he is able to leave the Southern Water Tribe. Sokka starts getting more and more involved with the White Lotus Society, eventually becoming its leader. Within the Society it's well known that Sokka despises and mistrusts Azula, but no one can quite figure out why he married her… one popular theory within the group is that Sokka is sacrificially keeping his enemy close. When Sokka does return home, however, the results are always explosive. Sokka and Azula are extremely abusive towards one another. They nonetheless manage to have three children. Shortly after the birth of their third child, Sokka comes to the conclusion that Azula is raising their children to infiltrate the rest of the powerful families: one child to seduce and gain control over each ruler of the other nations. He decides to frustrate this endeavor, but when it becomes apparent that Zuko's daughter is falling under the spell of Azula's oldest child, Sokka decides it's time to act. Using his connections with the White Lotus, he'd have his father removed from office as the Chief of the SWT and would replace him, altering the marriage laws of the SWT to foil Azula's attempts to marry their son to Zuko's daughter. Azula would be infuriated, and Zuko's daughter devastated. Zuko himself would ask Sokka to either repeal the law or make an exception, but without explaining to Zuko what was going on, Sokka would threaten to end diplomatic relations with the Fire Nation if the Fire Nation did not respect SWT "cultural values." Azula, knowing that now her son would be unable to inherit either the SWT or FN thrones would help her son in manipulating Zuko's daughter into killing herself, and Azula would personally lash out against Sokka, telling Hakoda how and why his son saw fit to remove him from power. Faced with the immensity of what has occurred in Sokka's life, Hakoda retires from private life.

Meanwhile, Zuko blames Sokka and Azula for his daughter's death. As FN-SWT relations become strained, Sokka agrees to retire from being the SWT chief, passing the title on to Katara, who becomes the first female Chief of the SWT. Leaving Azula in the SWT, now politically more alienated than ever, Sokka goes to the Earth Kingdom, where he is primarily occupied with the duties of being the leader of the White Lotus. Miles apart, Azula and Sokka continue to spar behind the scenes of world diplomacy. I figure at this point, Sokka ends up having an affair with Toph, who is content to be his mistress, because she's always been in love with him, and though she knows that Sokka doesn't love her, at least she knows that she can offer comfort to him. Azula, who is missing a fourth child to carry out her plans of vengeance and control seeks out a lover and becomes pregnant again. When Katara finds out, she calls for her brother. If ever Sokka has wanted to be rid of Azula, this is his chance; the SWT does not look kindly upon loose wives. However, Sokka is ecstatic, and for the first time, he finds that he enjoys being a father, largely because the newborn girl looks nothing like him. Katara can't understand why, but Sokka decides to take the child back with him to the Earth Kingdom, where he raises her as his own beloved daughter. At this Azula is devastated. Despite all the things that she is, Azula loves her children, and she loves that they love her back, but this girl, who belongs only to her, won't.

Like her mother, the girl is a prodigious fire bender. Sokka sees to it that she has the best tutors, though he personally sees to the other aspects of her education, both conventional and martial. The years pass. It's not until the girl is 14 years old that she meets her mother at a wedding in the Fire Nation. But Azula, terrified that Sokka will have told her daughter just what she is, runs away from the girl. Not to be deterred, the girl gives chase, and in the excitement, Azula, now older and having health problems, suffers a stroke that leaves her confined to her bed. Azula's other children blame their half sister for her illness and refuse to let her see her mother. For the right to speak with her mother, the girl challenges them all to agni kai, She seems poised to win, but Sokka intercedes. He has spoken with Azula and orders his children to let their half-sister speak with her mother.

Much to Azula's relief and surprise, her daughter doesn't hate her. Sokka hasn't portrayed Azula in the most flattering light, but he's allowed the girl to love and understand her mother. Azula confused tells the girl that Sokka's not her real father. She knows. Sokka's explained everything.

"Everything? Even about my father?"

"No. Not about him. He said that he was an evil man. He told me about what he'd done to the Fire Lord, but never what he did to you. I know he did something terrible, it must have been tremendous; dad's never wanted to speak of it."

"So Sokka's still keeping our little secret, isn't he? But you're right. It was tremendous, the worst disservice a man could do his daughter. He made me who I am. Taught me to use my mouth—I've talked myself into hell because of that man."

The girl hugs Azula. "I love you mother."

"Not as much as I love you my darling."

And that's the truth.

Later that night Sokka and Azula talk.

"After fourteen years, Sokka. After fourteen years you give me back the daughter you stole from me. Why? What do you mean to do?"

"She wanted to meet you. She's getting craftier than me. If I didn't let her go, she would have gone anyway. If she were mad at me, that'd give you ammunition."

"Against you, dear husband?"

"Against her. She's old enough now to know right from wrong, but you know how to talk."

"Look who's speaking."

"Indeed."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For letting her love me."

"Of course."

"Though it would have been nice if you'd given me fair warning. My heart isn't what it used to be."

While Azula recovers from her illness, Sokka sticks around with his children. The four of them decide to play matchmaker for their parents, but only the youngest, the girl is working in earnest. The other three, under Azula's influence, hate their father and for them they're building a trap for the father that left them and made their mother's life hell.

How does it go from there? I don't know. (I've made all of this up on the fly, remember, none of it is the definitive answer).

Maybe Sokka and Azula make up and become friends.

Maybe Sokka falls for the trap and dies in some horrible way.

Maybe Sokka and Azula end up killing each other in magnificent fashion. I don't really care. The story's been over for a while now.

NOW, another last note before I go once more. Updates have been scarce for months now. I've started law school, and it turns out, law school is a relentless train of one intensive activity after another. I'm always applying to things, always juggling too many things, I haven't had much time to deal with my two other real WIP fics: Blood, Silk, and Steel, and And All the King's Horses (Harry Potter). I've got a substantial chunk of the AATKH chapter done, but I've got a tremendous bit of writer's block with BSS. I might get some writing done this summer, though I'll be working, so the possibility is slight that I'll get more than one or two chapters done, if that. BSS, I realize now is an epic, and it might be more than 10 years before I'm able to finish it, and by then I don't know if I or anyone else will have any interest in it.

SO, if you're impatient and you'd rather have an inferior fic for sure than a superior fic much later (maybe), drop me a line in a review section telling me that you want to know what happens in BSS (or else, that you'd wait). I know how BSS end, and it wouldn't be too much work to just put up the crucial bits in a narrative outline form like this, with all the characters we would have seen (Katara, Kya, Jet, Aang, Appa, Piandao, etc., etc., etc.) and what they would have done. Who lives, who dies, who gets married, who has children, etc. I might even throw in the vague sketches of what would have been the sequel. But word of warning, once that summary of the rest of the plot goes up, I'll leave the story behind and probably stop writing fanfic, at least for Avatar. Truth be told, I largely wrote to self-medicate for my crushing unhappiness at undergrad, and I find it a lot harder to justify writing fanfic at law school, plus, as I've mentioned before, I really didn't like Avatar Season 3 and didn't bother to watch the movie. By and large, I've lost interest with the show, if not with this particular story. On the other hand, I do have a short plot bunny, something more along the lines of "The Maiden and the Martyr" and that's a project that might be written and released over the summer (Provisional title: "Spellbound," a slight AU where Aang and Toph left Sokka alone with Azula during Day of Black Sun. Sokka would get captured, but wouldn't stay captured for long, escaping Azula and returning to the Gaang, except… well, anyway, it'd be largely about Sokka's relationships with Azula and Katara, and actually would probably be told primarily from Katara and Azula's POV.

I dunno. Got to go study for finals. Any thoughts?


End file.
